The Pittsburgh Public Schools board voted against a plan that called for wide-ranging changes across the district, including closing nine buildings.
On Tuesday, the nine-person board voted “no” on the district’s Future-Ready Facilities Plan, which had been years in the making and would have reorganized the district.
The decision from the board came one day after nearly 100 parents packed a school board meeting to voice their concerns over school closures and consolidations. Almost all of the 80 speakers at Monday’s meeting were against the plan, with some calling the plan rushed and reckless, adding that the students will be the real losers.
“We don’t feel that this plan that they’ve done their homework, research,” parent Vanessa Dagavarian said on Monday.
Pittsburgh Public Schools said its proposal addressed declining enrollment, aging infrastructure and underutilized buildings. The president of the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers said on Monday that something needed to be done in light of declining enrollment, voicing support for the closures and consolidations.
“The position that the school district is in that it needs to make cuts, it needs to close some facilities because we have under-enrollment in many of our schools,” union president William Hileman said.
If the board had voted to approve the plan, the closings would have taken effect next summer.